I haven’t posted once since my mom arrived from Hong Kong 2 months ago. I’ve been utterly, yet obligingly, spoiled by my mom’s home-cooking and haven’t lifted a finger other than to click an OpenTable reso when it’s my turn to treat.

My grandmother on my mother’s side is Shanghainese and her reputable culinary skills have been passed onto her children while they grew up in Hong Kong. I received none of those skills across the Pacific Ocean, so I rely solely on my mom to make my absolute favourite dish: Shanghai- style wontons. These are fun, straight-forward, and much faster to make with a partner or kids, so round up a squad for your wonton prep! We usually make these in batches of 100 so we can freeze and have them ready within minutes next time around. Continue reading →

Kung Hei Fat Choi!!! Turnip cake is a well-loved dim sum dish, served steamed or pan-fried throughout the year. Turnip cake is especially popular during Chinese New Year because the word cake ‘糕’ and ‘high’ in Cantonese are both pronounced as ‘gou’, making cakes a symbolic food of prosperity and fortune. So. Eat your cake.

If you’re wondering what turnip cake actually is, it is a savoury steamed cake made of rice flour and shredded turnips, with little pieces of Chinese sausage, mushroom and dried shrimp. It is truly much more delicious than it looks in writing (as are most dim sum items 😉 ) This is my mum’s recipe I’ve posted. It is my favourite. Continue reading →